Thursday, June 28, 2007
Busted by the Blind
My son got in trouble with the Law... again. I'm not going to defend my son's actions. He was not doing right - however... The situation is a perfect example of why I started this blog. Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs) out looking to charge someone/anyone with a crime.
My son was sitting in a friend of his' car, parked in that friend's yard, with that friend standing outside the car and another friend inside the car, all smoking a joint. Apparently there were two other kids there on bikes outside the car as well. An undercover police vehicle with two officers inside drove by and saw a black man standing next to the vehicle in a residential neighborhood with two hispanic boys on bicycles nearby. After observing for "thirty to 45 seconds" and seeing the black man get into the car and start it, the undercover law enforcement officers assumed the black man was attempting to steal the car while the two hispanic boys on bikes were obviously lookouts. This gave them "Probable Cause" to approach whereby they detected the odor of marijuana, which gave them "Probable Cause" to search.
Upon searching the vehicle, the officers found two small bags of weed - one under the seat in the front and one that was tossed to the back of the SUV. The Driver (the black man), a 19 year old, had a bottle of gin beside him and - according to the Police Report - admitted to being "drunk as fuck". They dismissed the two 14 year old hispanics on the bikes. Upon searching the individuals in vehicle, they found a "roach" in my son's pocket. My 15 year old son was Arrested for Possession of Cannabis while the 19 year old drunk was issued a citation to appear in court. Is that ridiculous or what?
First of all, the owner of the vehicle was an adult. My son is a minor. Two bags of marijuana were found in the SUV of an admittedly drunk adult who was sitting behind the wheel with the car running. That is an undisputed, slam-dunk DUI. How do these Officers NOT charge him with that? A bag of weed under the seat, another tossed to the back... he's responsible, especially since my son was 15 and the other boy (hispanic) was 17. Not only was he caught red-handed with Drunk Driving and Contributing to the Deliquency of Minors, but also a fairly good case of Possession. Why the Undercovers arrested my son for possession is a mystery. I told my boy that his 19 year old buddy must be a 'Narc'... so at least now he avoids that dude.
My son is on Probation now, which is somewhat of a joke. As long as he stays out of trouble for a few months he'll be fine. However, it's a penalty put on me as his parent. Court and related costs as well as time commitments during my business day. Not too harsh, but - no charges ever stuck on the 19 year old. For him, it was like it never happened. Again, I'm not excusing what my son did so much as I'm questioning the priorities and motives of these Public Servants. How can they arrest my son and NOT arrest that other punk?
Yeah, I know that I sound like a parent crying over his child's misfortune - but come on, give me a break. What would be the consequences had this 19 year old drove to the store after the police left and ran over someone's kid? What would be the public outcry to a tragedy like that if they learned that the Undercovers had him in custody, dead to rights on DUI and Contributing, but let him go in order to take a roach-holding 15 year old to jail?
With all due respect to everyone - from Parents who struggle to raise their kids up to be good citizens to Police Officers who face the challenge of making similar difficult decisions on a daily basis to Taxpayers who want to see their tax dollars paying for a system that stumbles upon Justice more often than not - can anyone relate to what I'm talking about? Do I make Point here, or am I wasting my breath?
My son was sitting in a friend of his' car, parked in that friend's yard, with that friend standing outside the car and another friend inside the car, all smoking a joint. Apparently there were two other kids there on bikes outside the car as well. An undercover police vehicle with two officers inside drove by and saw a black man standing next to the vehicle in a residential neighborhood with two hispanic boys on bicycles nearby. After observing for "thirty to 45 seconds" and seeing the black man get into the car and start it, the undercover law enforcement officers assumed the black man was attempting to steal the car while the two hispanic boys on bikes were obviously lookouts. This gave them "Probable Cause" to approach whereby they detected the odor of marijuana, which gave them "Probable Cause" to search.
Upon searching the vehicle, the officers found two small bags of weed - one under the seat in the front and one that was tossed to the back of the SUV. The Driver (the black man), a 19 year old, had a bottle of gin beside him and - according to the Police Report - admitted to being "drunk as fuck". They dismissed the two 14 year old hispanics on the bikes. Upon searching the individuals in vehicle, they found a "roach" in my son's pocket. My 15 year old son was Arrested for Possession of Cannabis while the 19 year old drunk was issued a citation to appear in court. Is that ridiculous or what?
First of all, the owner of the vehicle was an adult. My son is a minor. Two bags of marijuana were found in the SUV of an admittedly drunk adult who was sitting behind the wheel with the car running. That is an undisputed, slam-dunk DUI. How do these Officers NOT charge him with that? A bag of weed under the seat, another tossed to the back... he's responsible, especially since my son was 15 and the other boy (hispanic) was 17. Not only was he caught red-handed with Drunk Driving and Contributing to the Deliquency of Minors, but also a fairly good case of Possession. Why the Undercovers arrested my son for possession is a mystery. I told my boy that his 19 year old buddy must be a 'Narc'... so at least now he avoids that dude.
My son is on Probation now, which is somewhat of a joke. As long as he stays out of trouble for a few months he'll be fine. However, it's a penalty put on me as his parent. Court and related costs as well as time commitments during my business day. Not too harsh, but - no charges ever stuck on the 19 year old. For him, it was like it never happened. Again, I'm not excusing what my son did so much as I'm questioning the priorities and motives of these Public Servants. How can they arrest my son and NOT arrest that other punk?
Yeah, I know that I sound like a parent crying over his child's misfortune - but come on, give me a break. What would be the consequences had this 19 year old drove to the store after the police left and ran over someone's kid? What would be the public outcry to a tragedy like that if they learned that the Undercovers had him in custody, dead to rights on DUI and Contributing, but let him go in order to take a roach-holding 15 year old to jail?
With all due respect to everyone - from Parents who struggle to raise their kids up to be good citizens to Police Officers who face the challenge of making similar difficult decisions on a daily basis to Taxpayers who want to see their tax dollars paying for a system that stumbles upon Justice more often than not - can anyone relate to what I'm talking about? Do I make Point here, or am I wasting my breath?
# posted by kidovid @ 10:28 PM 
